Putting the Federalist Papers
in the Classroom--and in the Legislature

I'm Dave
Kopel, a Denver lawyer, and this is Independent Thinking. To graduate
from high school, should students have to understand the Declaration of
Independence, the Constitution, and the Federalist Papers? Yes, the
Colorado House of Representatives said recently, passing a statewide law
to require knowledge of the founding documents.

If the bill makes it through the Senate, Colorado is going to be full of
very perplexed teenagers.

For example, the students might read the Constitution and notice that the
fourth amendment says that there shall be no searches and seizures without
probable cause. So why does the federal government drug test people
without any suspicion at all?

The sixth amendment guarantees an accused person's right to "the
Assistance of Counsel for his defense." So why does the government seize
a person's assets before he's convicted, and deprive him of the ability to
hire a good lawyer?

The fourteenth amendment guarantees equal protection of the law. So why
does the government practice reverse discrimination against Anglos and
Asian-Americans?

James Madison wrote in the Federalist Papers that the existence of
factions would help preserve liberty. So why do some politicians condemn
the ACLU and the NRA for vigorously supporting Constitutional rights?

The root of these problems lies in the fact that some of today's
legislators -- unlike the students who will have to pass the founding
documents test -- have forgotten the basic premise of our society. It's
the second and third sentences of the Declaration of Independence: That
all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men.

In other words, individual rights come first, and the government comes
after. The purpose of government is to protect individual rights. Government does not grant rights; the people grant government specified
powers in order to protect their rights. Individual rights aren't the
exception to the government's general authority to do anything it wants. Rather, protecting the rights of individuals is the only reason government
exists.

If the next generation of leaders understands this basic point, then
Colorado will become, even more than it is already, one of the freest
states in the Union.

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rights and public safety.

Nothing written here is to be construed as
necessarily representing the views of the Independence Institute or as an
attempt to influence any election or legislative action. Please send
comments to Independence Institute, 727 East 16th Ave., Colorado 80203. Phone 303-279-6536. (email) webmngr @ i2i.org